


Bittersweet

by Prokitty101



Category: RWBY
Genre: Accidental Arctic Monkeys, Arkos Maybe, F/M, Fluff, Hopeless Suitors, Implied Mutual Feelings, It's not as sad as the tags make out to be, Jaune is unsurprisingly dense, Literal Bittersweet, M/M, Not so subtle Seamonkeys, Oh my god there is chocolate everywhere, Onesided Iceberg, Power of Love, The shit you do for the people you like, Unstoppable Renora, valentines day, you guys don't understand it was only supposed to be seamonkeys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-24
Updated: 2019-02-24
Packaged: 2019-10-27 11:02:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17765576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Prokitty101/pseuds/Prokitty101
Summary: Because Japanese shoe lockers don't exist in Remnant, the rocket ones will have to do. Valentine's fic.





	Bittersweet

**Author's Note:**

> Going for that Japanese/anime fusion of valentines here. Also a fusion of what we do in Britain, which is nothing.
> 
> Wait a minute. What's that you say? It's 10 days late? Oh nooooo. This simply cannot do! What am I going to do now?

Ah yes, another fruitful day at Beacon Academy. It's ironically the hottest time of the year and extremely popular for all ages but held a significant purpose for the youth.

That's right.  **Valentine's Day.**

The same day that got everyone squirming in their seats. Nobody could focus. Their minds were preoccupied with clouded delusions of their precious crushes finally giving them the time of day with what they had to offer. That includes the teachers as well, no matter how much they would professionally deny. They all wished for the same thing; for the dismissing bell to chime so they could set up their first checkpoint.

A good ratio had already come prepared with their gifts, be it cards or chocolate or whatever, but the matter of actually delivering them was a different story. It's like walking on eggshells, or even trying to defuse a bomb; one wrong move and everything would go down the drain.

Indeed, Valentine's day defined the meaning of  _'Do or Die'._

What made this day even worse were the infuriating couples dominating the hallways and classrooms and pretty much stripping whenever they could. They flaunted and sprayed their disgusting stench of love just to hear the sad cries and jeers coming from the jealous crowds of single people, some vowing to get revenge on their comrades keeping a secret lover or some sort.

Well, it's not like the members of team SSSN, for example, had to worry about that. Not with their unbreakable record of winning any kind of poll, debate or essay with the words  _"Hot", "Attractive"_ and  _"Men"_ in the titles.

The tall blue of cool and the yellow spikes of fun named Neptune and Sun respectfully were staggering through the corridors with noticeable bags under their eyes. Neptune, in particular, was rocking a unique bedhead. As torturous and undeniably bland as their lesson with Professor Port was, they at least had an entertaining topic of discussion. That being Port's unusual change of attire.

"Did you see what Port was wearing? I mean yellow and black? What was he  _thinking?_ " Sun brought his arm up to fight off an incoming yawn.

Neptune lightly chuckled. "Yeah, he looked like a bruised banana with a bowtie!"

The two joyfully laughed while vaulting over the corpses of students that had their spirits sucked out of them. That was one of the harsh realities many had faced; the failure of not receiving a valentine in person or in their lockers. They became empty husks reeking of unsuccess.

"I meant to ask earlier but how on Remnant did you mess up your hand this time?" Sun questioned Neptune's gloveless hand lazily decorated with four plasters. His tail curled and humorously resembled a question mark. "That's...!" Neptune turned his head away and pouted, shoving his hands down his pockets. "It's not worth mentioning..."

 _"Uh huuuh."_  Sun merely smirked. Neptune's making it way too easy for him. "Was it  _this?"_  He made an inappropriate gesture with his hand, complete with eyebrow wiggles.

"What thーNO! Don't get the wrong idea, damn it!" Neptune hissed, worried if anyone passing by overheard. Honestly, he didn't need any more weird rumours on his plate after the window climbing incident. "Besides how would that equate toー"

"Then what? Pfft, carved weird looking hearts out of card or something? I hope you didn't use that freaking box cutter of all things." Sun winced mainly because of how well informed he was of Neptune's flimsy nature when caught up in his tinkering. That clumsy side was a constant thorn in Neptune's side he desperately tucked away from the public. "Don't tell me you're writing useless poems to serenade your victims again." Sun snickered behind his hand watching Neptune wobble stiffly like a cardboard cutout. "I'm telling you, that one will never work."

"Y-Ye of little faith." Neptune managed to finish before another yawn slowly crept on him. "Dude, stop that. You're making meーhaaahh..." and Sun was soon mirroring his actions, his mouth wide enough to have his fangs on display.

"My bad... Mmm didn't get a winkuf sleep lass nighhh..." Neptune slurred a little as he tried blinking the tiredness away.

"...so it's not becauseー"

 **"NO!"**  Neptune snapped back, suddenly more awake than ever.

"Hey, guys!" A familiar blond in armour called to them from the locker hall, coincidentally the duo's next destination and the source of all the heart attacks. The last and most common method was the indirect approach. Posting their cards and letters through the metal grates or pinning their gifts, chocolates or sweets, on the locker door with a  _strong_  magnet only a fool would try pulling off. Once planted, only the owner of that locker could deactivate the magnet with their four digit code.

"Hey, Jaune! What's up?" Neptune waved back.

"How did you..." Jaune jumped backwards. Did he blink and miss something? He could've sworn five seconds ago they looked just as dishevelled as he did escaping from Oobleck's tornado of a class. Is that the true power of coolness he craves? He'll never know. "Never mind. Guess who got some valentine gifts this year! Not this guy  _that's_  for sure!"

The noise Jaune made could barely be considered a laugh. Not knowing what to do with himself after Sun and Neptune failed to humour him with pity laughs, he retreated to the nearest corner, curled into a ball and sulked. "Why is it always meeee...?"

Neptune stepped closer, cautiously as a dark raincloud of depression loomed over Jaune's head. "It's alright, dude. You just... gotta put yourself out there!" he reached out to pet Jaune's back but the blond whipped around and glared bitterly. Well, it was more of a glorified pout, give or take. "Easy for you to say, Neptune! You could get any girl you wanted!  _Any_  girl! I bet your locker's filled to the brim with letters! Would it kill you to be less cool today!?" Jaune let out a long sigh and stared down at his hands, slowly forming fists. "What am I doing wrong?! Do I have to go so far and strip down too?!"

"Huh?! Uhh... um..." The blank-eyed Neptune motioned Sun for support.  _"Help me, damn it!"_

 _"Nuh uh, I ain't getting involved!"_  Sun formed a cross with his arms.

Neptune grumbled and looked back. "Come on Jaune, don't give up so soon! Surely there's somebody who's got the hots for you...!" he trailed off once his eyes landed on Jaune's brutally dented locker. "Say... Why don't you open this bad boy up and see if you struck gold, bro? Who knows, you might even get  _two_  cards!" he assured without the faintest idea of how patronising he sounded.

Another long and more exaggerated sigh came out of Jaune. "Can't. Cardin jammed the lock again..."

After a few seconds of pondering, a metaphorical lightbulb shone over Neptune's head. Sun gently laughed as if he could see it too. "Not to worry, I've come prepared!" Neptune gracefully pulled out  _a long tool belt_  from his back pocket and buckled up, twirling one of the suspicious and  _undoubtedly illegal_  gadgets around his finger. "I'll get this opened in no time flat!"

Jaune sprung to his feet, feeling a little uneased viewing Neptune's equipment but nonetheless happy once more. "Gosh Neptune, thanks a bunch!" he praised the bluenette who gave him a simple thumbs up back. Sun knowingly facepalmed, his choice on whether to fill Jaune in was wavering.

Jaune faced Sun all starry-eyed and trembling in excitement. The Faunus ironically had to squint and shift his focus elsewhere. "This is so cool! Had I known before I would've asked Neptune for a bunch of stuff! Like my electronic toothbrush, my radio, my bike..."

"Yeeeeeah a bit of a heads up; you might wanna check out for a new locker after this."

"WAIT  _WHY?"_

"Neptune's... a little messy." Sun visibly cringed, emphasising his claim with his finger and thumb as a measurement. "Just a little."

The colour immediately drained from Jaune's body as he watched Neptune equip himself with a  _butane torch and soldering helmet._  Sun pulled Jaune back to a safer distance once he saw the sparks flying. "W...Will there be anything left of it after this?" Jaune asked mainly to know the probability of his parents calling him in the middle of the night barking about a sudden bill they'll have to pay for damaging school property.

Sun could only answer with a shrug. "The best thing you can do now is  _pray."_

"Oh, God."

"Ohoho,  _yes!"_  Neptune suddenly pulled out a drill and cackled proudly, examining the metal shining in the light. "That'll do nicely...!"

"NOOOO!"

"Oh boy." Over the distressed squeaks and shrills coming from Jaune attempting to pry the drill off Neptune, Sun's superior Faunus hearing picked up a faint yet mischievous giggle from the side of him. Looking from the corner of his eye, two beautiful redheads were discreetly observing the crying blond.

"This is it Pyrrha! And now we wait for the best part!" Nora squealed and danced on her tippy-toes.

"Um, Nora... as much as I appreciate your efforts..." Pyrrha swallowed, her gaze slowly drifting to the bulges in Nora's pockets. "I don't think stealing is the best way to go."

"Pyrrha, Pyrrha, Pyrrha..." Nora placed a loving hand on her shoulder and wagged her finger. "In this world, you gotta be cruel to be kind!" Her grip tightened as her eyes passionately burst into flames. "And  _I'm_  not gonna stand back and let some wannabe take your man from you! Not when you spent all that time crafting the perfect Valentine's card for him!"

"I know..." Pyrrha's focus was back on Jaune again, a pining sigh leaving her quivering lips. The regret of not stopping Nora beforehand harshly weighed over her harder than any kind of metal in the world. Her selfish wish for Jaune finally choosing her after her painful wait for his reciprocated feelings prevented her from taking action.

She closed her eyes and moved her hand to her chest, begging her enthusiastic heart would slow down for once. "But... I strongly believe this was not the right move to make. It's truly unfair to all the girls who worked just as hard as I did and it's not right just to trample over their chances at..." her right hand unconsciously balled into a fist "...winning Jaune's affection... who are we to change their fates like that?"

Looking back up Pyrrha honestly couldn't believe how silent Nora became under her words. It was hard to tell with Nora's vacant expression but Pyrrha felt a great sense of relief Nora was finally on the same wavelength as her. With a sigh of acknowledgement, Nora began "Oh Pyrrha... you know how much I love you, right?"

The other redhead nodded and felt her mouth curl up, watching Nora sigh and step closer. "But I gotta say...  _that's quitters talk."_

"GEH!" Pyrrha was verbally pierced in the chest.

The shape of Nora's eyes sharpened. "I don't think you realise how  _evil_  women can be! And I'm talking like big ol monsters, Pyrrha!" She flicked her forehead and held her shoulders again, with more strength and purpose. "You are like the fragile flower standing alone in a toxic warzone!" she scoffed "You want him to be yours, right?!"

Another arrow jabbed Pyrrha with the word  _'YES'_  printed on it.

Nora backed off, tutting disapprovingly with hands on hips. "Besides I don't wanna hear any more of your spineless nonsense after you took the cowards way out and  _ate the chocolates_  you were supposed to give to Jaune!"

The last word shaped arrow got her heel and she fell to her knees. Nora had grown thrice her normal size, emphasising the high ground she gained. "I-I just thought perhaps with all that chocolate, he'd get a tummy ache or-"

"You  _weakling!"_

"B-But you agreed it would have been too intimate!" Pyrrha scrambled back to her feet. "Nora, would you like it if Ren, for example, got aー"

"REN?!" Nora's eyes became stars as she saw her target approaching Jaune and Neptune. Her vision of Ren always had sparkles and love bubbles surrounding him. Nora unfolded from what appeared to be her weapon but completely made out of chocolate. Pyrrha was so visibly touched from all the evident love and time her friend put into her creation that she gasped loudly in admiration. Even the dents and buttons were exactly the same. "TIME TO TEST THIS BABY OUT!"

"Oh my! That's a wonderful replica of Magnhild!"

"Replica?" Nora blinked confusedly after letting her present touch the ground. The unsettling metallic clunk caused beads of sweat to roll down Pyrrha's,  _and Sun's,_ faces at a ridiculous speed.

**"Oh."**

Shifting back to the boy's perspective, Ren, the unfortunate prey didn't even get a chance to open his mouth because of the thunderous shakes and a large dust cloud heading his way. "REEEEN!" she cried out waving her gift as if aiming to strike him. "N-Nora?!"

"ACCEPT MY  _not_  LOVE!"

"Why can't you do it normally?!" Ren took off without a second to spare with Nora dangerously closing in on her objective. "Nora! No!" Pyrrha hopelessly chased after with her spear readied in hand as her teammates were unfortunately out of her semblance's range.

 _"Yikes. Girls have to put up with so much huh...?"_ Sun slowly waddled back to the boys, slouched with hands in pockets.

"And... BAM! Got it open~!" Neptune sang victoriously and stepped to one side. The trio watched in awe as the locker door, with a bit of a struggle, swung itself open. Jaune gasped. "I can't believe it's still in one piece!" That being said, he would be happier if he didn't have the daunting phone call in the back of his mind.

"Of course-Waiiiit," Neptune's smile faltered. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Uhh... uhh... hey, look!" Jaune's eyes widened in disbelief. Bang in the middle was the sole valentines card in his busted locker. It was a wonderful sight to his tear-filled eyes. "Oh my god! I-I got one! You guys!" he proudly held it high still quaking in joy. The warm sunlight shone down on Jaune with impeccable timing. All smiles were all around; It was truly the greatest moment of success.

"Dude, that's awesome!" Sun cheered and slapped his back.

"See Jaune! Patience is the key!" Neptune gave him a thumbs up and joined the huddle, just as eager to see what kind of mushy flowery details the mystery girl left in Jaune's card. However, when he opened the card, all but Jaune instantly turned white in the face. Sure it was a pretty looking card, but there were a disturbing amount of black blotches everywhere. Through detailed scanning, Sun and Neptune could easily suss out the word the poor girl was clumsily trying to erase was 'Love' and replaced it with wonky 'Likes.'

As if she regretted writing them altogether.

...Or a close friend wrote 'Love' without her knowledge.

 _"That Nikos chick seriously friendzoned herself?!"_  Sun yelled telepathically to Neptune.

 _"I don't know whether to cry or cry harder, man!"_ Neptune threw his head back sighing.

"Huh, that's a lot of words scribbled out. I guess she's prone to spelling mistakes like I am." It could be the overflowing radiance of newfound confidence that Jaune was unable to see the cracks in the questionable valentine's card. "P... I wonder what that could stand for?" He lightly crumpled the card in excitement. "Oh man, this is amazing! I got a secret admirer!"

"N-No, Jaune... that'sー" Sun silenced Neptune with his tail and shook his head, both subjected to watching Jaune's cringy dance all the way down the hallway until he was out of sight. "Well... as long as he's happy... right?" Sun said, smiling apologetically because Neptune was spitting out hairs and rightfully glaring at him. "Uh huh." He replied with a cough. "Might as well check ours while we're here."

"AgreedーOOH!" Sun skidded to his locker and freed the three appropriately decorated chocolates from their magnetic prison "BINGO! I hit the jackpot!" he threw a peace sign, smiling adoringly at the dog shaped present he knew for sure was from Ruby. He was thrilled it was etched out of Zwei's face and not his butt. "Maaaan, team RWBY sure do like to spoil me!"

"Wow, Blake really went all out on this huh?" Neptune said, eyeing the one Sun surprisingly didn't call attention to. It really stood out with its yellow and purple colour scheme and the flashy ribbon was extravagantly wrapped around the box with such precision. It suited her image; the elegance and nimble craftsmanship, the small hint of perfume coming from itー

 **"Uh no, Yang made this."** Sun flipped the card over, displaying the beautiful calligraphy. "Clearly."

Neptune nearly collapsed against his locker from choking. Sun helped him back up, smirking yet again at his predictability. "I'm serious!  _This_  one is Blake's." He shook the final black box between his fingers, hearing the chocolate bounce inside. It was so plain that the price label was still stuck on it. The only original thing about it was the small card attached to the front.

' _Here Sun. From Blake.'_

"That... just looks like store bought chocolate."

"That's because it is, brainiac." Sun smiled down at it, angling the box slightly. "You know, it's kinda funny... I really don't mind. The fact I got one from her in the first place means she was thinking about me, right?" He tilted his head up, bearing the warmest smile he could display. "That alone is more than enough for me."

"...psshh you sappy sack of sap!" Neptune locked him in a noogie. Of course, Sun returned the favour once he was able to slip out. "Hey, looks like Yang made one for you too!" His tail pointed at the one stuck right at the top of his locker. It was identical to Sun's but with blue complimenting the purple accents instead. "Woah! Nice!" Neptune smile didn't last five seconds after plucking it from the magnet and reading the unwelcoming message inside Yang's card.

_' **BOOP.'**_

_"OH CRAP."_  He turned into a pile of rattling bones, replaying  _that incident_  like a broken record.

"Neptune?" Sun tilted his head.

_"SHE'S STILL MAD."_

"Yo, dude?"

_"I CAN STILL FEEL THE PUNCH."_

"NEPTUNE WAKE UP!" Sun whipped his tail across his head. "OUCH, MAN! WHAT THE HELL?!"

"That's my line!" he yelled back with his arms crossed. "What the hell just happened?! You zoned out like you discovered your third eye or some other crap like that!"

"Ahaha, whaaaat. Dude, y-you're totally seeing things." Neptune adjusted his collar, laughing with evident trembles to his voice. This was going nowhere so Sun decided to drop it altogether. "Hold on, you got valentines chocolate from each member of team RWBY, right?" Neptune squinted. "Where's the fourth one?"

"Well, you know how the Ice Queen can be." Sun rolled his eyes, almost disappointed. He's not entirely sure when it happened, but whenever he was in her view Weiss would automatically keep her guard up. It wasn't intentional, he could clearly see that in her face, but it was annoying to an extent as she wouldn't exactly tell him what he did wrong.

"Psst!" a noisy whisper called out to the boys. To their eye bulging surprise, it was Weiss, trying to be as covert as possible wearing coke bottle sunglasses and a fancy white beret. How she was able to bunch up all of that hair in such a small space is something the boys will never figure out without suspecting something mythologically ridiculous like  _magic._  "You! Come here!" She snapped her fingers at Sun.

"Oh great." Sun hunched over with arms dangling.

"What the hell did you do to Weiss to warrant that?" Neptune asked quietly out of Weiss' range.

"Bro, I swear all I gotta do is  _breathe_  and she has an issue with me." Sun shrugged and walked to her, painstakingly slow just to annoy her. With impatience brewing, she regained her composure and cleared her throat. "It just... seems like poor taste of me not to give you something since the rest of my team did. Take it."

Before Sun could get a word in Weiss hastily shoved the paper bag in his face, her eyes worriedly dashing around in fear of being caught by a familiar face. Feeling the outer contents, it was safe to assume Weiss only bothered to get him a card. As he stared back at it with interest, he came to an understanding that this was as much as he was going to get with her, personality wise. With an appreciative nod, he smiled softly at her. "Thanks, Weiss." he said softly and Weiss was equally stunned as much as he was getting the card in the first place.

It's the first time he addressed Weiss by her real name and not her 'nickname.' For that, a small smile appeared, warming up her features for the first time in front of him. "Sooooo, what are you doing for Neptune?" he gently elbowed her, grinning at the speed of Weiss' blush spreading over her face. Having a complexion as dainty as hers made it difficult for Weiss to mask certain emotions "T-That's... hardly any of your business!" She folded her arms stubbornly.

"Oh? So you're actually gonna give it to him huh?"

"NO!"

"Where is it?"

As much as she wanted to swat him for his questions being annoyingly right on the nose, Weiss eventually caved, knowing the two choices available were coming clean and spilling the beans or being subdued to Sun's endless teasing. "...It..." She started off through her gritted teeth and then for some reason mumbled the rest of her sentence. "Hmm...? I can't hear you." he asked before Weiss bashfully replied:

**"It... can't fit through the building."**

...

"HUH."

_Bzzzt! Bzzzt!_

"Yes hello? Klein?" Sun only needed to blink once and Weiss, amazingly recomposed for the second time, was already halfway down the hallway, rendering him speechless yet again. "That's wonderful news! Just park the helicopter in the normal spot and I'll meet you there!"

" _A CHOPPER?! REALLY?!"_ Sun shuddered. The huge comparison between the gifts was truly frightening.

He returned back to Neptune's side, the latter waiting for details of that eyebrow-raising conversation. From his point of view, Weiss looked like she was enticing Sun into making a shady deal of some sort. Judging by the big smile growing on the Faunus' face, he was completely off the mark. "And there you have it! A complete set!" the blond waved his newest treat in Neptune's face, his grin widening at his partner's apparent jealousy. "Congratulations." was the offhanded response he unfairly received.

"Sad you didn't get one from her?" Sun bounced from one side of Neptune to the other still taunting him with the bag balancing off his tail. Neptune ultimately gave in with a heavy sigh, his eyes refusing to look away from his locker. "A little... I dunno, maybe. I thought she was still into me."

"Well, you  _did_  mess her around at the dance, dude."

Neptune grumbled.

 _"Although judging from that phone call, I don't think he'll even want what she has in store."_  Sun shook off the thought and winked at Neptune "Well? Where's mine, bro?"

"What theーAre you outta your mind?" Neptune scoffed with eyebrows raised.

Sun pouted. "Oh,  _wow_  Nep. Not even a Valentine's card for your best bro in the world? How could you be so heartless!"

"Haha alright, drama queen. If you're gonna play it like that, where's  _mine?"_

"Ah..."

"I thought so." Neptune chuckled.

"No, wait! Give me a second!" Sun paused to think, then stuck his arms out.

"I don't want your body for valentines."

"Tch. You drive a hard bargain." Sun murmured, reaching for his belt.

"DON'T TAKE OFF YOUR PANTS, SUN!"

"Oh come on you seriously don't want my body?! Everyone does!"

"Exactly! You're damaged goods! A hand me down!"

"He didn't mean that fellas...!" he sobbed and consoled his abs with tender rubs. "He's just jealous because he's a late bloomer."

"Okay, you definitely deserve a clobbering." Neptune started to say but he quickly glanced down at his foot. "Oh. There's one here for you, dude. Poor girl must've mixed our lockers up." he sighed sympathetically and tossed it to Sun.

"Hah! Freaking sweet! All aboard the Sun train!" He held it up and examined the interior. It was in a clear bag displaying differently shaped chocolates Sun could assume were truffles or something similar. Some were shaped like hearts, stars, spheres, all the cute stuff. It had a simple yellow ribbon holding it together and a small card only containing 'Sun' on the front in bold capitals. "No name huh?" the Faunus stroked his chin. "Looks like I've got a secret admirer too!"

Neptune smile appeared crooked, almost in a concerned fashion. "Yeah yeah hurry up. We're supposed to meet up with Scarlet, right?" he motioned over his shoulder and walked down with Sun closely behind. "Ughh I am  _not_ looking forward to lunch."

"Oh yeah, today's Thursday! That means your favourite old lunch lady will be on~!" Sun cooed and jabbed his side playfully.

"Don't remind me. Her lazy eye creeps me out, man! It's like she's piercing through my  _soul!"_  Neptune felt an unsettling chill rush up his spine "If she's planning to make heart shaped meatloaf or something weird like that, I'm bolting outta there faster than... you listening? Sun?"

Five more seconds went by before Neptune decided to look back, ready to lecture his buddy for not paying attention but he immediately went blue in the face. Sun was laying on his side twitching in a puddle of his own drool. "Ruuhhh... salty..."

Neptune looked down in horror at the chocolates safely clutched in Sun's hand. "...How many of those did you eat...?"

"Two..."

"And you didn't think the first bite was a clue?" Neptune ran his hand through his spikes, pausing to think. "...You know, I think you should throw that away." he curtly said, scratching his injured palm. "Probably belongs in the trash..."

"Hey, don't joke about that, Nep..." Sun sat straight up, his voice was a little hoarse from the attack. He didn't know exactly why he felt like defending that person, but for some reason, he felt a strange sense of familiarity linking to the present. "You shouldn't judge a book by its cover. I can totally see how much time and effort was put in this!" he absentmindedly threw another piece in his mouth. "It's not the best looking but it's sure got my vote."

Neptune went blank-eyed again. "Wait. You just ate another one."

"Huh?" Sun paused but then his face lit up after the third bite, registering the sweet flavour spreading across his tongue. "Wait...this one's actually alright!"

Neptune rolled his eyes, his body language displaying impatience. "Make up your mind. Are they good or not?"

"Yeah, they're really good! Tasty, even!"

"They are huh...?" he mused although appearing highly suspicious.

"Chill out man, I'm not gonna die because of this! I'm sure the girl didn't mean any harm." The Faunus assured with a small wave. "If anything she's just super clumsy. Look, she left all her mistakes in here!" Neptune leaned in close and eventually spotted some of the chocolates were noticeably darker from the rest, leading him chuckling in defeat. It was so typical of Sun to see the light in every situation. "You're really invested in those chocolates huh? Sounds like if you ever found out who it was, you'd ask them out on the spot." Neptune teased leaning back against the wall.

"Hell yeah probably!" Sun huffed happily and squeezed the bag. "You know how it goes! The crappier it looks, the more love and thought is put into it, right? That kind of schtick is adorable!"

"Huh..." Neptune's tone was neither agreeing or disagreeing.

"What you don't believe in that?"

"A-Ah no... it's not that..."

Sun furrowed his eyebrows. His partner in crime was oddly shifting a lot on his feet, as if unsure if it was safe to say anything else. Neptune stepped forward and took a deep breath, barely able to look the Faunus in the eyes. "Like... I'm sure the girl would be over the moon if she heard you right now... jeez."

Sun gulped as he felt the heat prickling in his cheeks.  _"N...No way."_  His tail was coiling.  _"NO FREAKING WAY."_

"...What? Something on my face?" Neptune tilted his head.

"N-No..." Sun rubbed his eyes. He would like to think his mind was playing tricks on him, that this moment wasn't happening right now, but his curious heartbeat wished for everything to unfold. "Nep... I..."

Neptune harrumphed and strangely began in monotone. "A-Ahhhh, craaaap! I forgot my bag back in Port's classroom! I-I'll catch up later, okay?"

"Wait, Neptune!" the Faunus reached out but Neptune already made a quick dash up the stairs. "Later!"

Sun slammed his head against the wall. His skin was reddening from head to toe.  _"What the hell...!? You're so freaking obvious!"_  He sighed loudly in one hand while the other accidentally crushed the chocolates into mush. His heart thumping so hard it could be heard in his ears. His mind was rewinding and looping the unthinkable image of Neptune's face. It was hard to forget the fierce blush Neptune had on yet the expression itself was difficult for Sun to simplify.

It was... gentle yet firm...

...honest yet so shy...

...yearning yet obediently patient.

And suddenly Neptune's 'injuries' made so much sense.

All he could do now was stare back at his valentines with a wonky smile.  _"Get back here so I can say 'thank you' damn it..."_

While that was happening, Neptune reached his dorm room and practically flopped on his bed, groaning the embarrassment into his pillow and clenching his fist in success.  _"Yes...!"_


End file.
